Divergence
by JT-VS6
Summary: Episode 6: While on a diplomatic mission the team get caught in an earthquake. With two members trapped in a collapsed building the team must fight their emotions to stay alive and get off the planet. Meanwhile the Medical Review continues on Atlantis.


Divergence

Sheppard walked into the control room as the sirens went off signalling an unscheduled gate activation.

"What's going on?" He asked Woolsey.

"We're just getting an IDC through." Woolsey said, standing over a control desk, staring at a computer screen. "It's one of the new additions to the coalition."

Sheppard cringed at the news. "I told you giving them all an IDC would come back to bite us on the ass."

"I know," Woolsey sighed, "but the council and the IOA," he emphasized, "thought it would be a sign of good faith."

"Humph," Sheppard grunted in indignation.

"Let them in." Woolsey called out.

The shield deactivated and a slight man, wearing smart yet worn and ruffled clothes, stumbled through. Woolsey frowned; he'd expected a larger party.

"This can't be good." Sheppard murmured, more to himself than anyone in particular.

The man stared around the control room in awe as Sheppard and Woolsey made their way down the stairs to him.

The man latched onto their presence and purposefully stepped forward. "Oh thank the Ancestors."

Sheppard had a bad feeling about this guy already, not that he was a bad guy just that this was going to lead to something bad, especially for him and his team. And statements 'thanking the ancients' only made that feeling a whole lot worse.

"What can we do for you…?" Sheppard asked, his hands in his pockets and an eyebrow raised, leaving room for the man to fill them in on his name.

"Joviah, my name is Joviah," the man provided, "I am from Arthenon. They are trying to kill me!" Joviah stressed, grabbing Sheppard by his forearms.

Sheppard saw the feral look in the man's eyes and looked to Woolsey. Why had the guy chosen him to grab hold of? The crazies always seemed to target him and it was becoming completely unfair.

"Who's trying to kill you?" Woolsey asked evenly, raising his eyebrow.

"My government." Joviah stated matter of factly, letting go of Sheppard's arms. Sheppard fidgeted uncomfortably, suddenly conscious of what he did with his limbs. He wasn't sure what it was about this man that was making him nervous.

"Please, help me." Joviah pleaded.

"What makes you think that they want to kill you?" Woolsey enquired, staying calm in order not to alarm the man further, but Sheppard could see that glint of panic in him, Woolsey would never be completely comfortable with handling potential combat situations; he was a bureaucrat after all.

Joviah looked down, his arms open and eyes wide; trying desperately to get his brain organised and explain the situation. "Men came to my house, I have no idea what I've done." He looked up in desperation, "I work on the records station at the ring so I ran straight there and grabbed your…" he searched for the term, "GDO" His arms flopped to his side, relieved to get his story off his chest.

"So you have no idea what they wanted with you?" Sheppard asked.

Joviah shook his head.

"Are you sure they wanted to kill you then? They weren't there for something else?" John probed further.

"I know these men, they're part of the High Chancellor's personal guard, they wouldn't be there for anything else."

Sheppard nodded trying to reassure the man, he might still be sceptical on the inside, something wasn't quite adding up, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was so for now, he had to give the man the benefit of the doubt.

"Colonel, get your team ready for a mission," Woolsey ordered.

John raised his eyebrows questioningly. Woolsey flicked his eyes towards his office, indicating that they would talk on it further in private.

Sheppard clicked his comm. to contact his team.

"Amelia?" Woolsey asked, "could you show Joviah to the mess hall and get him a drink?"

"Of course," Amelia replied, she stood and guided Joviah out of the control room.

Woolsey walked to his office and waited for Sheppard to join him. The Colonel entered moments later.

"What are you thinking?" Sheppard enquired; he was intrigued to discover Woolsey's reasoning.

"There's obviously something going on on that planet." Woolsey commented.

"Do you believe him?" Sheppard asked, folding his arms, if Woolsey did believe then Sheppard was really going to start questioning his own judgement.

"I'm not sure…" Woolsey paused, contemplating how to continue, "but whether what he says is the truth or not doesn't really matter."

Sheppard nodded, latching on to what Woolsey was meaning. "I'm sure the IOA would be delighted for us to show the Coalition our good intentions."

Sheppard exhaled with a smile, there was a reason Woolsey was still in this job, and it wasn't just that he was good at it; he knew how to appease people.

………………

The team stepped out of the Stargate into a planet covered in luscious green grass. There were small buildings, more like huts, dotted around. No paths, no roads, just grass covering every square inch of the ground that wasn't built on.

"Interesting," Sheppard said, he wasn't really that interested, but it was something different.

"It is beautiful," Teyla commented, as she glanced around her.

Two guards who had been patrolling the gate walked up to them.

"We phoned ahead," Sheppard told them, matching Teyla's smirk with one of his own.

One of the guards remained steely cold but the other's face lit up, flashing a beaming smile. "You must be the convoy from the City of the Ancestors," he stated, his voice faltering with excitement.

"That we are," John confirmed, smirking at the guard's boyish behaviour.

"Wonderful. The High Chancellor informed us of your visit, we are very honoured." The guard took a step back and bowed before them. That was definitely something Sheppard didn't relate to. He wasn't sure how to react.

Rodney knew exactly how though; he rolled his eyes. Even the other guard looked perplexed by his colleague's actions.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence the man coughed and stood up, his cheeks blushed with red. "Right, um, this way, we require all visitors to sign in before leaving the ring area." He said, setting off towards a small hut with the team following behind him.

Inside the hut a man sat in front of a desk, he had his head rested down on his hands. When the guard noticed he chastised the man, "Matteve! We have visitors."

The guard turned to Sheppard, "Apologies, Matteve is working extra hours as his replacement didn't arrive today."

Sheppard's eyes met Teyla's, sharing the knowledge that the absent man was Joviah.

"No problem." Sheppard smiled to reassure the eager guard.

The team signed and left the hut to find a man waiting for them outside. He was tall and very slight, with piercing blue eyes but a warm smile.

"This is Senator Mandosa." The guard introduced before he backed away to rejoin his patrol.

"Greetings." The Senator said, opening his hands that had been clasped in front of him.

"Lt Colonel Sheppard, Teyla Emmagen, Ronon Dex and Dr McKay." Sheppard said, gesturing around at his team. The Senator seemed impressed, obviously recognising the names.

"Excellent." He said before pivoting on his heels and indicating for the team to follow. "The High Chancellor is expecting you."

"So we've been told." McKay muttered behind the Senator's back. Sheppard saw McKay's double take at the motorised buggy before them, "It looks like some sort of golf cart!" He whispered.

"We are very hopeful that our nations can strike up a trade agreement, being part of the Coalition brings great pride to our people," the Senator continued.

Sheppard assessed the situation and indicated for Ronon to take the front seat. It'd still be a squeeze but at least with Sheppard's smaller frame, it would offer up some room in the back.

They squashed in with Teyla in the middle. "Got enough room?" Sheppard asked her.

Teyla looked down and assessed her space, "Yes." She said but her face gave away that she knew there wasn't any more room to give so she would have to make do with what she had.

"Well, I don't, squashed in like a sardine!" McKay squirmed in his seat, softly elbowing Teyla in the stomach along the way. She pursed her lips but refrained from saying anything.

"Stop complaining McKay, and mind where your elbow is." Sheppard scolded. Rodney jerked his elbow towards himself and mumbled an apology to Teyla.

"So…" Sheppard began, "Senator Mandosa, is the High Chancellor your Head of State?" The Senator frowned in confusion at the term, "Your leader?" Sheppard clarified.

"Yes he is." Mandosa confirmed.

"And as Senator, you are?" Sheppard enquired further.

"Ah, there are a group of twenty Senators each responsible for an area of the planet, we report to the High Chancellor directly." The Senator explained, catching on that Sheppard was probing for information on their society. "The top four Senators are in charge of different departments. We have a small military, and an organisation of healers, a learning programme, and a research department, our biggest section, looking to advance our technology and ways to defend ourselves against the Wraith. Most of the nation's resources are put into this effort. It is one of the reasons we applied for membership of the Coalition, and I believe it is the main reason we can be an asset as a member." The Senator said, pride glowing through his voice.

"And this was all they could come up with…" Rodney said under his breath, shaking his head at the cart he was sat on. He received a swift elbow to the ribs from the petit lady next to him.

"What!" Rodney asked in indignation.

Luckily the Senator hadn't noticed the exchange as he had pulled up to a larger hut and exited the small vehicle. He led them through a sturdy wooden door. Their buildings may have been made from some wood like material but the walls looked thick and strong.

The rooms were small but bustling with activity, men and women, dressed in smart clothes, carrying folders, pushed passed each other.

They were led through another door into a larger room with a rectangle table taking up most of the space. A short, stocky man sat at the head of the table with four men sat, two either side of him.

The stocky man stood up and opened his arms wide, he was wearing the same outfit as Mandosa, but in a warm brown colour, on his shorter frame it looked comfy and snug.

"Welcome to Arthenon." The man said, "I am the High Chancellor of our people and it is my honour to open trade negotiations with the people from the home of the Ancestors."

John smiled warmly, these people definitely didn't seem so bad so far, but that didn't mean he'd let his guard down.

Mandosa stepped forward and individually introduced each member of John's team before stepping back and exiting the room.

The team took seats around the table and the High Chancellor retook to his chair.

"It is my pleasure to introduce…" he began, they took pleasure in some weird things John thought, "Manay, the Farming Senator, Takayah, the Advancement Senator and Buliah, the Military Senator. Also, this is Gen Mika, our new Ambassador." He said, latterly pointing towards the man sat to his right, the man wore different clothes to the rest, a brown vest jacket over a cream linen shirt, he looked more homely than the rest of them.

"It is good to see you Gen." Teyla said. John's turned to her in surprise, the woman never failed to keep amazing him.

"And you too Teyla." Gen said, smiling warmly.

"Teyla?" John asked tentatively.

Teyla turned to him, happy to explain. "Gen's people were trading partners with the Athosians for many years, I was good friends with Gen's wife."

A shadow passed through Gen's eyes at the mention of his wife.

Teyla opened herself back to the table, "What brings you to this planet Gen?"

"After my planet was destroyed by the Wraith a couple of years ago we fled to other planets, to find a new home. The good people of Arthenon took in many of my people and due to my trading connections I became an ambassador for the High Chancellor." Gen explained.

"And we are very grateful for his presence." The Chancellor added, glancing over to Gen in appreciation.

"Do you trade with a lot of planets?" Sheppard asked, glancing around the group in front of him.

The Chancellor spoke before Gen could explain. "We have long standing arrangements with two planets and more recent trade with a select few more. Most of these planets are now within the coalition, it is how we found out about the organisation and decided it would be in our best interests to join." He spoke with an air of authority and pride that shone through his eyes.

"And your policies for ring travel?" Sheppard probed further, hoping they just assumed he was being security conscious rather than prying for information, in many ways he was.

"Ring travel is strictly monitored, all guards are hand selected and the recordists are some of my most reliable men. Nobody leaves the ring area without permission from a Senator. We are also looking into ways of making the ring area more defendable against the Wraith."

Sheppard lifted his eyebrows, "Oh yeah," intrigued to know more, "What kind of defences?" He resisted from offering their assistance in the matter just yet, he'd gotten in enough trouble in the past for jumping the gun.

The Senator for Advancement abruptly cleared his throat, "Nothing in the stages of being implemented, we are still developing ideas and testing viabilities," he said with an air of smugness that didn't match his face, his eyes flicking nervously to the Chancellor, "We would never start a programme without the knowledge and permission of our people."

Sheppard deferred to Teyla for the trade negotiations; they kept the talks informal, without confirming details. After all, if these people were up to something they didn't want to be locked into a trade deal with them.

………………

Keller bit her lip nervously as she walked down the corridor. She's managed to wait patiently and calmly while Dr. Parker had requested file after file, and interviewed her staff one by one.

Now it was her turn.

Her stomach churned and she briefly considered turning on her heel and running the hell away. But this was something she had to do; there was no getting out of it.

She gathered her strength from within and strode into the conference room.

"Dr Keller, thank you for joining me and being so forth coming with the administration I requested." Dr. Parker smiled warmly, Jennifer tried her best to return the smile but her nerves wouldn't let her.

"Let's start with how you feel about your job. I can see in your file that you were slightly apprehensive when you got promoted to CMO."

"Well," Keller began tentatively, "at first I didn't want the job, I didn't feel I was ready for it. But after getting thrown into treating Dr. Weir's injuries it felt natural for me to continue in the position. It took a while for me to get used to the demands of supervising other doctors, and to keep up with the admin work, but I always felt like I had a good team behind me that I knew I could rely on."

"That's good." Parker smiled once again. "Dr. Beckett left big boots to fill."

Jennifer kept her features even; she wasn't sure what was meant by that.

"There are a few incidents that occurred while you were Chief of Medicine that I would like to talk about." Keller flinched at Parker's words, her mind lingering on the use of past tense.

"Your first experience on an off world mission, visiting the Athosians. It turned out to be much more eventful than expected. From the reports, you were obviously unprepared for such an experience, could you tell me what you did to rectify this?"

Keller brightened at the prospect of showing she had taken positive action on this. "I took basic weapons training with the Marines and hand to hand combat with Ronon," she said, giving her first genuine smile.

"You had read off-world mission reports before coming to Atlantis?"

"Yes." Keller's smile faltered.

"So why did you not undertake this training before going on the mission?"

"Well…" Keller searched her brain for an appropriate answer, "we had visited the Athosians many times without incident."

"Uh huh." Parker nodded but Keller got the feeling her answer wasn't satisfactory.

………………

With the trade negotiations over for the day the team were escorted out of the building.

"Teyla," Gen called after the team, "Colonel Sheppard," he nodded towards the Colonel upon reaching them, "You are welcome to come back with me to my village, we pass through several of our farms on the way for you to view our crop yield. And I'm sure Marie would love to see Teyla again." He smiled warmly at Teyla. It was a good job this guy was married or Sheppard would be worried by how 'friendly' he seemed towards his team-mate, but he knew he was just being paranoid, he seemed like a good man.

"I would love to see Marie," Teyla replied with a smile of her own, "how old is she now?"

"She is eight years old, and very bright." Gen said with obvious pride.

"I knew she would be when she took apart your weapon as though it were a toy." Teyla laughed. A child was allowed around a weapon and Teyla was laughing about it? There must be something to this story that John was missing. "She was still so small last time I saw her."

"Well, she is still small," Gen chuckled, "but has definitely grown in the last five years."

"And how is Makaila?" Teyla asked.

Gen's eyes turned downcast, and he shoved a hand in his pocket. "She died in the Wraith culling on our world." Gen voice was quiet but remained firm, it was obvious his feelings were still raw on the subject.

"I'm so sorry Gen." Teyla squeezed her lips together and fought to keep the tears from brimming in her eyes.

Gen nodded slowly as he stepped off to lead the team towards his village.

………………

"Here we are." Gen said as he opened the door into his house, it looked much like the huts all over the planet that they'd seen so far.

"Marie should just be getting back from school." As if on cue a little girl ran into the room, her mousy brown hair bouncing around her face. She stopped and stared at the visitors with a wide-eyed curiosity hidden behind a bashful smile.

She crept over to her father and gripped onto his arm.

"Marie," Gen said, "This is John, Ronon, Rodney and Teyla." He emphasised Teyla's name and gestured towards her, "Do you remember Teyla?"

"Um," Marie mused quietly before gently nodding her head.

Teyla stepped forward, "It is lovely to see you again Marie."

The girl released her hold on her father and ran over to grip onto Teyla's leg. After a moment of shock Teyla laughed and reached down to put her arm around Marie's shoulders.

"I remember you from our old planet, my father always tells me it is important to remember." Marie said, looking up at Teyla with a shy smirk.

"Yes it is." Teyla confirmed, delighting the little girl.

"Shall we show them the garden?" Gen asked Marie, smiling indulgently down to his daughter.

"Yes!" She responded with contained excitement.

Teyla tried to move but the girl was constricting her leg. "Need a hand?" John asked from behind her. She reached down and took Marie's hand in hers, releasing the girl's grip on her leg.

"I am fine, thank you." She said.

If he didn't know Teyla so well John would have sworn her tone was patronising.

Gen led them further into the house, as he went through into the next room the whole house shook, the floor rumbled and John felt like the air was rushing in on him. He grabbed out for anything to steady himself on but nothing came to his reach. He collapsed to the floor under the crushing weight that fell on top of him. He couldn't comprehend what it was as his vision blurred and he face-planted onto the ground.

His arm was trapped under his chest and his head banged against the floor. The floor had stopped rumbling, or at least he thought it had, pretty certain that the remaining tremors were just the ones rippling through his muscles.

The weight lifted off him and a hand appeared through the haze. He reached out and grabbed at the hand, his body thrust forward when he was hauled to his feet. As the haze cleared he saw Ronon still holding him up right.

"Everyone alright?" Sheppard asked with a husky voice.

"Yeah, just a few cuts and bruises." Ronon told him, eyeing Sheppard's form with a frown and John glanced around.

Teyla was knelt down next to Marie checking that the girl was okay.

Rodney had picked himself up and was inspecting his body for injuries.

"Where's Gen?" John asked. He heard a faint cry from outside. As it became clearer he realised it was the man in question.

"Marie?" Gen shouted frantically. "Are you all ok?"

"We're good." Sheppard replied immediately, "Marie is a bit shaken but otherwise she's all right."

He looked to Teyla who nodded in confirmation that his assessment was correct.

"I can't get through to you!" Gen shouted, "The doorway is blocked, can you go back through the house to the front door?"

Ronon had moved over to the blocked doorway putting his hand on the wreckage to push but quickly removed his limb when a shudder spread through the house.

"Um," John swivelled to look at the other door and waited a moment for his head to clear. There were a few pieces of rubble in the way but they could easily be removed. "Yeah, we can get through."

"Ok, I'll meet you there." Gen informed them.

Ronon stalked over to the doorway and started clearing space.

Sheppard gently slapped McKay on the back. "You ok buddy?"

"What? Um… yeah." McKay answered, spinning around the room in a daze. His eyes focused on Ronon and he stopped moving. "Oy! Stop that!" He moved closer to the Satedan, his legs working faster than his mind… not something Rodney was used to experiencing.

"There could be aftershocks and we know nothing about the structure of these buildings, everything could fall down around us, and we know nothing about the plate margins on this planet…" Rodney's voice started reaching the higher echelons of his pitch, "we could be on top of a plate margin right now, and who knows what type of margin it is? A conservative…"

Sheppard slapped him on the back again, this time more forcefully, "McKay! Take a breath will ya!"

John pointed towards the doorway. "Look, we can clearly see that none of that debris is holding anything up, so removing it won't make a difference, apart from allowing us to get out of here. And as you said, there could be an aftershock any moment, so we need to get out into the open space. Ok?"

"Yes, yes." Rodney sighed, dropping his hands to his side.

Ronon got back to work on moving the debris.

Teyla brought Marie over to her teammates for the comfort of being close to them. "Don't worry," She told the girl, "We will be out of here soon."

Sheppard noticed that Rodney was staring around the room, itching to speak.

With a roll of his eyes he asked, "What is it McKay?"

"No, no, nothing." Rodney said, almost panicking that he couldn't express himself.

Sheppard couldn't put up with the agitation, "Spill Rodney."

"Well, it's just that my mind likes to work and when my mind works my mouth works, they never stop working really." Sheppard and Teyla shared a glance; they didn't know this already?

"There a point to this?" Sheppard sighed.

"And," Rodney continued as though he's never been interrupted, "there's no chance this building is any sort of earthquake proof, I mean if the Japanese couldn't do it then what chance does anybody have?" He paused, his mind ticking over. He clicked his fingers, "The Ancients could though, Atlantis would withstand an earthquake, although it couldn't really be called an earthquake considering we're not actually on Earth." Rodney smirked at his own revelation, his gesticulations getting larger and larger. "Atlantis is almost perfect for a quake in fact, not that I'd want that to happen, but with it's triangular shape, the larger base and triangular head." McKay was demonstrating the shape with his hands in front of John's face.

Sheppard grabbed the scientist's hands and pushed them down. "Good to know Rodney."

Ronon had stood behind the smaller man, indicating that the way was clear. "We can get through now."

"Right, good." Rodney said as he followed Sheppard through the doorway, Ronon left room for Teyla to guide Marie through.

They walked through the adjoining room, quickly but carefully, and found themselves at the front door. The door was jammed shut and Sheppard tried to kick it open but it remained firm.

"Damn." He said and wrinkled his nose at his own lack of strength.

"I'll do it." Ronon said. Sheppard reluctantly stepped aside, ignoring the sounds of his wounded pride's whimpers of displeasure.

Ronon growled and shoulder charged into the door, knocking it through. He easily regained his composure and smirked over his shoulder at Sheppard who glowered in return. He moved out from the doorway so that Teyla could take Marie out first, but the girl was frozen to the spot.

Rodney, oblivious to what his teammates were waiting for, moved forward to leave. Sheppard put a hand out in front of him to stop, "Women and children first."

"Uh?" Rodney turned to see the little girl with tears welling up in her eyes. "Oh."

"Come on Marie." Teyla said, gently tugging at her hand. "Your father will be here soon, we will meet him outside."

But the girl wouldn't move from the perceived safety of her home.

"Oh come on! We need to get out of here," Rodney moaned petulantly.

"You're right." John nodded and grabbed Rodney, taking them both through the doorway into the open space outside.

Rodney whirled around in surprise.

"Marie," Sheppard said, getting the girl's attention. He spread his arms wide, "It's safe out here, you can come out," he said softly.

Sheppard's feet trembled; he knew immediately what that meant but the tremor spread through the rest of his body before he could do anything, he was unceremoniously jerked to the ground. He landed hard on his ass but his eyes never left the building that crashed down around his two teammates and the little girl in their care.

He shouted the names of his friends, time moving in slow motion. Fear shot through his heart as the images of all the loved ones he'd lost flashed through his mind, he couldn't lose two more. His minds eye settled on the image of Teyla's eyes widening and locking onto John's before she was ripped from his sight by the rubble around her.

John shook his head to shake away the pounding pulse in his ears, but his heart was still thundering in his chest.

"… ss I can't feel my ass, there are bones there that can break right? Sheppard?"

Rodney's voice slowly drifted into his consciousness.

"Rodney?" He muttered, barely loud enough for Rodney to hear. He placed one hand on the floor, "You ok?" He said a little louder as he pushed himself up.

"What? Did you not hear what I said? No, I'm no…" Rodney paused as he looked into the direction Sheppard's eyes were locked on to, seeing part of a roof collapsed on the building they'd just left, with their friends still in. His brain finally moved past his own predicament and comprehended the situation. "Oh God."

Moments passed that seemed like forever, Sheppard stop started more times than he could count, but he couldn't force himself to stop staring at the fallen debris, he couldn't tear his eyes from the spot he had last connected with Teyla's. They had to be all right, he knew he couldn't go through that loss again and come out anything resembling the same person. It would leave too much of a hole in his life.

"Oh God, oh God, oh God…" Rodney mumbled away.

John snapped back to reality with a heartbeat thudding through his head. He focused his brain on what he needed to do; he needed to rescue his friends.

"… look at it, how can any…" Rodney continued to talk to himself.

John clicked on his ear piece.

"… that building, I said it wasn't safe…" Rodney's speech was getting faster and faster.

John took a deep breath. "Teyla? Ronon?"

No response.

"We were almost out, safe…" Rodney babbled on.

"Answer me damn it!" Sheppard growled down the small microphone.

"What are we going to do? What can we do? There's no way…"

Rodney's voice started to grate on John's nerves.

"Ronon? Teyla? Please!" Sheppard begged loudly, his voice cracking with the fear that pulsed through his veins with each passing second of radio silence.

"… stupid planet, why'd we come here any…"

"Rodney would you shut up!" Sheppard snapped at his irate friend, spinning on his heel to pin Rodney with a vicious glare.

Rodney froze, his hands clenched together, he slowly lifted his head and stared, wide eyed, at Sheppard.

Sheppard stepped towards him and softened his voice, "I need you to calm down buddy. I could use that brilliant mind of yours focused on the task at hand. Ok?"

Rodney nodded in response but his movement was stilted and his eyes still wide. John wasn't convinced he'd gotten through yet.

"Rodney?"

Rodney's eyes relaxed and he made eye contact with John, "I'm here, I'm focused."

"Good." Sheppard breathed out a sigh of relief.

A low grunt grizzled through the radio, "Sheppard?" Ronon's voice was even more gravely than normal.

"Ronon?! It's great to hear your voice." Sheppard felt the tension in his shoulders ease, "You alright?"

"Um," Ronon paused, John's muscles stiffened back up immediately, "Yeah, something hit my head but I'm ok."

"What about Teyla?" Sheppard asked urgently.

"Her legs are trapped and she's unconscious, I checked for a pulse, it's there, and she's breathing."

"How is she trapped?" Sheppard pressed.

"There's some stuff piled up on her legs and lower body, the kid as well. I don't think I can get them out by myself."

"No!" Sheppard shouted, knowing that Ronon would attempt to even if he didn't think he'd be successful, "You sit down and stay down, you probably have a concussion, and we need to make sure the rest of the building won't come down around you before we move anything."

"Hm." Ronon grunted in agreement.

"McKay there?" Ronon asked after a few moments of silence.

"Here." The scientist replied, he'd moved closer to the building and had started inspecting the rubble.

"Tell me what you see Ronon?" Sheppard asked him, keeping his voice calm.

"Um, it's dark, can't see much."

"That's ok Ronon, anything is better than nothing." Sheppard reassured him.

"I think it's some sort of chest of drawers or something over Teyla, more rubble on top. Looks as through the roof is resting on it." Sheppard trembled as he listened to Ronon's description, he would do anything to see both his friends smiling faces right now, or even to be the one trapped in there with Ronon – he'd did that before... they'd made it out. He had to concentrate on that. They would get out. "Um, there's a bit more light on the other side of the girl, not as much rubble and I don't think the roof's as bad there."

"That's good Ronon, thanks, that's where we'll start digging through." Sheppard moved towards Rodney who was already pointing at the section Ronon had identified, John nodded to confirm the placement.

"Should we go back to the Stargate, we can bring those engineers that helped us get out of Michael's lab?"

Sheppard shook his head regretfully. "It's too far, there could be another aftershock any minute that sends the rest of the building on top of them."

"There's blood, Sheppard." Ronon said.

John's heart leapt through his throat. "How much? Where is it?" He managed to croak out.

"It's on the floor, around the girls legs, it's not very deep… but enough."

John flinched but kept his composure, "Ok, we'll be through as soon as we can. You stay put and awake. If _anything _happens tell me _straight away._"

"See you soon Sheppard."

"Yeah."

……………

"I spoke to your colleagues about the structure of your department." Parker told Keller.

_Marie put her stethoscope down. "She is a lovely girl and I have a lot of respect for her abilities as a doctor."_

"_But." Parker prompted._

"_But, she is just a girl, it is difficult to see past her young age and lack of experience as a doctor, let alone as the head of a department. I respect her position and her decisions but sometimes… I wish I could be more like Dr McKay and say what I think without considering the consequences." _

"_Does Dr McKay come by regularly?"_

"_Take a seat Nurse Hemingway." Dr. Parker pointed at the chair across the other side of the table. "Tell me about Dr. Keller."_

"_She's lovely." Nurse Hemingway smiled._

"_Do you like working with her?"_

"_Very much so, we're a similar age so get on very well."_

"_What about her leadership style?"_

"_Erm, she treats us all like equals, which is nice. She is a very good doctor but… I suppose I sometimes seek others out with more experience. Maybe that's because of our age, I know I wouldn't have that sort of confidence in my own ability that it takes to deal with the more complex situations. I know I shouldn't, as Dr. Keller is very knowledgeable and talented, I guess it's just a perception really._

"You mentioned earlier that you had a good team behind you, how did they respond to you taking over the department?"

"They responded well." Keller nodded, "I had known a few of them for a short time and they supported me fully, they have all along. I don't think I would have coped without their support and expertise."

"Has there ever been any dissent over your level of experience compared to their own?"

"No…" Keller looked down, trying to recall, "I have often sought advice from them, I have always found the team willing and open to assist each other. The department wouldn't function without that."

………………

McKay wiped the sweat from his forehead, they hadn't been digging for long but he was already emotionally exhausted so the work seemed twice as hard. He noticed that Sheppard was favouring his right arm and wincing occasionally.

"What's up with your arm?" He asked.

"Started aching a while ago but… I got a bit distracted." He said with sad smile.

McKay reached over and gently pulled the sleeve back on Sheppard's left arm. Sheppard grunted and tried to retract his arm, "Sorry," McKay flinched at causing Sheppard's pain. "We'll have to remove your top the other way."

They gingerly removed his longer sleeved over shirt and Rodney inspected the arm.

"Sheppard, this looks swollen! Why didn't you say anything?"

Sheppard clenched his jaw, "Like I said, we were a bit distracted, and I guess the adrenaline numbed some of the pain or something." His annoyance at Rodney's accusation had changed into a bashful sigh.

"Have you got a sling in your tac vest?" Rodney asked.

"Yeah." Sheppard said, wincing when he moved his body. He pulled out the piece of material and breathed deeply while McKay fashioned the sling around his injured arm.

"Right," Sheppard said, "Back to digging."

"You can't dig like that!" Rodney screeched.

"McKay, there's blood in there! Do you want Teyla or Marie to die while I stand here and do nothing about it? This," He thrust his arm out, grunting in pain, "isn't life threatening. I'm not going to let them bleed to death."

"Fine." Rodney said sharply. "At least take some Tylenol."

"Fine."

They dug away for a few minutes more, making a small indentation in the rubble before them.

…………….

"Keep digging." Sheppard told McKay as he reached to his radio, "Ronon? How are you all doing in there?"

"I'm fine," came the gruff reply, "Teyla's starting to come round, she opened her eyes and muttered a few words but I couldn't make them out."

"Ok, let me know if you get any more from her, or the girl. See you soon buddy."

Sheppard rejoined McKay, using his good arm as effectively as he could. He was almost getting used to the painful ach in his left arm, but the slight twitch here and there shot rivers of fire up his arm to remind him. He heard a rustling from inside and got straight back on the comm.

"Ronon? What was that?" He asked urgently. "Did something fall?"

"Yeah." Ronon replied. "Me. I was getting up to help dig from the inside."

McKay rolled his eyes but resisted any snarky comment and carried on digging.

"You said you hit your head right?" Ronon grunted a positive response. "Then it's best you stay still. I need you to keep a watch over Teyla and Marie's conditions anyway, that's more important right now."

Ronon let out a soft "Yeah." Rodney wondered how long it would be before the Satedan tried to move again and knowing Ronon, he knew it wouldn't be too much longer.

……………

"Marie?" A faint call came from the side of the house, getting louder.

"Gen? Is that you?" Sheppard called back, slightly ashamed that he'd completely forgotten about the man.

Gen jogged into view, "Yes, Colonel. Where is Marie?" His eyes roamed around.

Sheppard cringed at knowing the bad news he had to deliver. "She's…" He took a breath to keep his composer in check. "In there." He nodded to the house.

Gen eyes slowly drifted to the crumbled house that he'd been avoiding, "Oh the Ancestors! Is she alive?"

"We've spoken to Ronon, he says she's alive but unconscious, she and Teyla are trapped." Sheppard explained as straightforwardly as he could.

Gen started to shake and John could tell the man was close to panicking. He grabbed his shoulders, "Gen, she'll be alright, we're going to do everything we can, you know that. Ronon and Teyla are in there and I want them out just as much."

John breathed out in relief as Gen nodded his head, "You are right, Teyla will not let anything happen to Marie, I trust in that." He faintly smiled, as happy as he could get in the situation.

"Are you ok? What happened to you?" Sheppard enquired about Gen's own well-being."

"I was knocked out but I am fine now, I am ready to help."

"Good. Start digging then." Sheppard hoped the work would keep the man from panicking again.

John hoped the work would distract him too, he was worried over Gen's reliance on Teyla, he had too much faith in something Teyla had little control over.

………………

Teyla felt heavy – too heavy. Her eyelids seemed to be glued shut, or laden with dead weights. She willed them open but it took a while for her body to respond and when they did, it made no difference. There was little light, just greyness.

She opened her mouth but no sound would come out.

Her eyes closed again, already exhausted.

But the images she saw behind them were too painful to keep looking at, all the times she had been in danger, her loved ones in danger, kept playing over and over again. Something bad had happened, she just couldn't remember what. Part of her didn't want to know, but the larger part that couldn't take the images, the memories, any longer won out and she forced her eyelids open.

A moan croaked from her lips.

"Teyla?"

Ronon, that was Ronon, that's good.

"Ronon." She breathed slowly, happy to finally hear her own voice. But with it came the memories of what had happened, the dust, the weight, the pain. She squeezed her eyes shut but the memories remained.

"John? Rodney?"

"They're outside, safe."

……………….

"Teyla's fully awake now." Ronon's voice pierced through the radio.

Sheppard lent his head back in relief and smiled at Rodney who returned the gesture.

"Put her on." Sheppard told Ronon.

"John?" John took a moment to compose himself before responding, her voice was smooth and that was a good sign.

"It's good to hear you, Teyla."

"You too, John." He could feel the warmth of her smile, giving him a greater urge to see her face again.

"Don't worry; we're digging through to you." As he was speaking some people appeared around the side of the house, they were from the nearby village and offering to help. "Got some extra hands soon, so it shouldn't be too much longer. We'll get you out of there in no time."

"I know you will John." Sheppard tensed at the weakness in her voice but there was nothing he could do from out here.

John could see Gen listening intently and itching to ask about his daughter, "How is Marie doing?" John obliged.

"She is unconscious but breathing and looks peaceful."

"Thank the Ancestors," Gen whispered. "Do you have her hand still? I know she'll feel much safer if she is still connected to you." Gen shouted at Sheppard to transmit his voice over the radio.

"Yes, I still have her hand Gen, I will not let go."

"Teyla," John said, "Don't let Ronon fall asleep, he probably has a concussion. So do you, probably so… just, keep each other awake." He paused, taking a breath, "See you soon Teyla."

John went back to Rodney's side, who had been joined by some of the neighbours, to continue digging.

………………

"Gotta keep each other awake huh?"

"It would appear so." Teyla said, resting her head back on the ground.

"Um…" Ronon looked around, but the darkness didn't bring the inspiration he needed, conversation was not his strong point. He went with the one thing he knew Teyla never tired of talking about. "How is Torren? Sheppard said he'd been talking more."

"Yes he has," Teyla said. "He is starting to put more than two words together, and to understand more of what people are saying around him. I think he was sensing the tension with his father but is getting used to the separation now and opening up more."

"Probably better that it happened while he was so young." Ronon ventured, hoping that he wasn't over stepping the mark.

He could sense Teyla's pensive face and almost retracted the statement. "Yes. I believe so. My relationship with Kanaan would have only disintegrated further the longer we spent together, and I do not believe that is a good environment to bring up a child."

Ronon nodded gently in agreement.

Teyla coughed but fought through the chest convulsions to continue her conversation.

"In a way, I am lucky that Kanaan is a good enough man to recognise that we would be better apart."

They drifted into a contented silence and Ronon could sense that his friend was close to falling back asleep.

"Do you miss him?"

Teyla stirred at the interruption of her silence, forcing herself to concentrate on the question.

"Kanaan?" She contemplated to herself; it was not something she had considered before. She had always looked upon the situation from Torren's point of view, if he missed his father, the look of disappointment in his eyes when he realised Kanaan wasn't there. She had never thought about the impact it had on herself, but really that was just a reflection of how their relationship had become, the only thing that connected them and kept them together had been their son. They still cared about each other but everything had become about how they felt in relation to Torren rather than between the two of them. She wondered what might have happened if Torren hadn't been born, would they have remembered to think of each other or would they have separated at a much earlier point?

Teyla realised that Ronon was still awaiting an answer. "It is not something I have considered. I guess I miss the presence of another adult from my own people occasionally but, no, my relationship with Kanaan does not feel too different now than it did before he left. He is still an active part of Torren's life and for that I am thankful. With Torren, the missions and all of you, I do not have the time to miss him..."

She wondered to herself when their relationship had changed, when her relationship with Kanaan had stopped being a relationship at all.

"It's all right you know." Ronon said quietly, his voice thick with the pain he was managing to keep hidden. Teyla turned her head as much as her energy levels would allow, enquiring as to what Ronon meant. "That your relationship didn't work." He explained. "It's better that you're happy. There's someone out there for you."

Teyla smiled to herself, it wasn't often that Ronon shared his wisdom.

The movement around them increased in volume.

"They'll be through soon." Ronon said. Some material fell through the rubble next to the girl by Teyla's side.

Ronon's comm. came to life with Sheppard's voice. "Ronon, Teyla? You there? We think we're close, can you seen anything your end?"

"Yes John." Teyla replied. "We can hear you from in here."

"Good, see you in a few."

Ronon and Teyla sat listening to the crackles of rubble falling away. Light burst through a small hole followed by some fingers scrabbling away. Teyla squinted from the increase in light but kept her eyes focused on the activity. The fingers got further through as more rubble fell away, revealing a chubby hand.

"Rodney?" Teyla asked, for some reason she expected John to be first through.

"Teyla?" Rodney screeched, "Sheppard, we're through!" His voice muffled as he turned to direct his voice at Sheppard.

"Keep going then." Sheppard instructed gruffly.

"Oh yeah." Rodney said as the movement resumed.

The hole increased in size enough for Teyla to see Rodney's face.

"Hey Teyla, Ronon." He said, smiling.

More holes began to emerge from the rubble around Rodney, as the locals who were helping them breached the wall.

Gen's voice came through as soon as his hand did, "Marie? Can you here me?"

"She is still asleep, Gen." Teyla said regretfully.

She didn't have time to dwell on the young girl as she was confronted by Rodney's mass crawling through the hole he'd created.

He moaned and groaned as he came through. He cleaned himself down and smiled.

"What happens now?" Ronon asked.

"Well, um." Rodney looked around for clarification but he was the only one there to answer. "Well," Rodney said again. A noise to his side startled him. Sheppard was coming through. "Be careful, Sheppard." Rodney warned but made no move to help his friend shimmy through the small space.

"Thanks for the concern, Rodney."

John crawled through much more swiftly and gracefully than McKay did, even with his arm held tightly to his chest.

"John?" Teyla asked, looking closely at his wrapped up arm. "What happened to your arm?"

"Swollen, bruised a bit." He shrugged.

Teyla knew better than to ask more questions about how he was feeling, she already knew the answer she'd get; he was fine.

"So?" Ronon asked again.

"Yes, I was just about to tell them the next step of our plan… Sheppard?" Rodney turned wide pleading eyes on his team leader.

"Right, yeah, one of the men from the village went back to get some sort of fork lift truck type thing they have here, so that he can hold the roof up while we get you out." He smiled sheepishly. "He should be here any minute."

He looked at Teyla. "How is your head?"

"I feel drowsy, but am getting better."

"Anywhere else hurt?"

"My stomach is tender when I breathe in too hard and my left leg aches, it feels as though there should be pain but there is not."

John pointed at Rodney, "Check out Ronon's head wound, I'll check Teyla."

Ronon had a gash above his eye; blood had trickled down his cheek, the dried blood met a large graze covering his cheekbone.

……………

John approached Teyla steadily and crouched down beside her. He couldn't see any visible injuries on her face or the sides of her head.

"I'm going to lift your head and feel underneath, ok?" His voice soft and concerned.

He felt a notch through her hair and brought his hand away, he winced at the faint, dark red stain on his fingers.

"You've got a pretty big bump there but it feels like the bleeding has stopped, the blood seemed dry." He showed her the evidence on his hand.

Teyla breathed out heavily, John sensed her relief that she knew the cause of the pain.

"I'm going to slide my hand under the debris to feel your stomach, ok, let me know where it's tender." He slowly and gently manoeuvred his hand to reach her stomach; he paused before moving further, looking to Teyla for permission to continue. Her eyes gave him the confirmation he needed.

He gently pressed on her stomach, moving his hands slightly when he received no response. As he moved over the other side of her stomach she breathed out in a sharp cry, "There!" She squeezed her eyes to shut out the pain.

John quickly retracted his hand and patiently waited until Teyla's pain eased.

………………

Teyla must have blanked out for a few seconds because when she opened her eyes she saw John looking over her, concern edged on his face. The corners of his mouth twitched as she made eye contact with him.

"I think you've got a fractured rib." He informed her. "Don't breathe too deeply and if the pain gets any worse, tell me straight away."

"I will John." She heard a kafuffle outside and the sound of a gentle engine.

"The guy is here with the fork lift, we'll have you out in no time." He smiled down at her. His smile gave her hope, she grabbed onto the image to store it for later, when she knew times would get worse.

"We're going to take everything off except for the cupboard directly on top of you both. If you feel anything at all, shout, and we'll stop straight away." He looked around at the villages assisting them, "Did everybody get that?"

Teyla watched his Adam's apple bob and his mouth twitch at the nods all around him.

Ronon approached Sheppard but John stuck his hand out, "You. Sit back down."

Ronon glared but knew he wouldn't beat Sheppard on this one; they had plenty of help, no reason to risk getting more injured than he was; knowing Keller, she would probably bed them all for days, if not at least demand a week or two of downtime. He skulked back to his corner.

Sheppard raised his good hand towards the debris to help with the lift, when Rodney shouted, "You!" Rodney commanded in an imitation of Sheppard's earlier tone to Ronon; it was possibly the most commanding voice Teyla had heard from McKay's mouth. He pointed at Sheppard, "Go sit down."

John retracted his hand and bit his lip at seeing the smirk on Ronon's face and he glared petulantly at Rodney. John stomped over and sat down beside him, knowing he had no argument against it.

Teyla tried not to watch as the first pieces of debris were removed.

She was distracted from the activity by a groan beside her.

John and Ronon were immediately up and at her side. John grasped her hand, "You ok?"

"That was not me." She said, and turned to Marie, "I believe Marie is starting to come around."

She smiled at Gen who had appeared by his daughter's side. He knelt down and gently kissed Marie's forehead. He sprang back to his feet without saying anything and returned to removing the debris. Teyla saw the sparkle in his eyes, the glimmer of hope for his daughter. It warmed her soul to see him that way after hearing the despair in his voice earlier.

The debris was removed until only the large cupboard remained. Teyla looked at John who was still tightly squeezing her hand but he was staring elsewhere. She followed his gaze to the pool of blood beneath the cupboard.

"I believe it is my leg, John. I haven't been able to feel my ankle for some time now." John swallowed and nodded. She knew what thoughts were going through his head. They couldn't inspect her injury without removing the cupboard, but the cupboard could be the only thing preventing Teyla from bleeding further. She knew the decision that had to be made.

Gen had appeared by his daughter's side again, she was beginning to fidget and her eyes were fluttering open, not yet conscious but on her way to being so. Gen's eyes widened as he noticed the blood, he looked questioningly towards John.

"Well," John began apprehensively. Teyla jumped in before he could get any further, she wanted Gen to know this was her decision.

"We are going to lift the cupboard."

"But the blood?" Gen remarked, staring intently at the pool of red liquid.

"I believe it is from my leg." Teyla reassured.

"Are you sure about this Teyla?" John questioned, she knew he didn't want to risk her life unless completely necessary.

"What other option to we have?" She replied, lowering her eyes, her nerves were beginning to build but she knew this was the only way, that knowledge would keep her strong and pull her through. Besides, her team was with her and they would do everything within their power to take her home safely.

John nodded conceding her point.

"Do you have any healers?" Ronon asked Gen.

"They've been sent for." Sheppard told him, "Rodney's keeping an eye out for them."

They heard Rodney's voice above the chatter outside. "The healers are here!" Teyla saw the smug look flash across John's face at the timing, before the frown etched back on his forehead.

…………….

Rodney walked over, he knew his body was visibly agitated but tried to hide the fear on his face. A man and a woman followed him; John stood to shake their hands.

"You okay, Rodney?" Sheppard asked.

He quickly replied with sharp _yep, _even though his brain was repeating, _no, no, no. _Teyla saw through his answer and attempted to reassure him. "I am fine, Rodney."

"I know." He replied before turning to head back outside.

"Fine." He repeated to himself. Why was he stuck with a bunch of people who were always 'fine'? Fine, fine, fine. She was quite clearly not _fine._

………………

John retook his place knelt by Teyla's side. He reached for her hand again but retracted it almost as soon as he made contact.

He looked at the male healer. "You need to be here." He almost shoved the healer into his place.

The female healer went to sit next Marie. Gen stood up behind her, "Are you certain Teyla?"

"I am as certain as I can be." She said resolutely.

"Lets get this thing lifted." John commanded in that booming voice that came out of nowhere only when he needed it. He managed a small smirk when most of the men jumped slightly before moving towards the large cupboard.

"Ready and waiting." Rodney replied, standing around the cupboard with a group of men from the village. "Everything's fine," he muttered and pointedly ignored the glare Sheppard sent his way.

Two men stood at Marie and Teyla's heads, ready to slide them out once the cupboard was lifted. They each took their charge in their arms, gripping under their shoulders. Teyla nodded that she was ok, despite the pain in her stomach at her new position.

"On three. One, two, three!" Sheppard shouted and the men lifted the cupboard a foot off the floor. The two men pulled their charges out as quickly and gently as possible, but the two injured females still groaned and moaned at the jostling. Once they were clear, Teyla turned to the side and yelped in horror at seeing the blood poor out of the young girl beside her. She'd been wrong, the blood wasn't hers. Marie's thigh had been penetrated and her femoral artery was bleeding freely.

"Marie!" Gen yelled as the healer leapt on the girl's leg to squeeze her wound closed, the blood oozing through her fingers.

Tears filled Teyla's eyes, she was still unable to form words, the shock taking hold through her body and brain.

Teyla's healer had checked her over for life threatening injuries before dashing around to Marie to aid in her treatment.

The rest of the men stood around, looking on in horror. Sheppard snapped out of his stupor, "Anything we can do?" He asked the healers. The lady shook her head, already looking resigned.

"What??" Gen screamed, "There's got to be something! I can't just stand back and watch." He grabbed at the male healer's shoulders, trying to shove him out of the way to get closer to his daughter.

Marie's head was jostling about, her mouth twitching with groans and whimpers.

Ronon pulled Gen back, stepping in his way, restraining him with his bigger frame.

"Let go of me!" Gen hissed in Ronon's face.

"No." Ronon said, "You're not helping."

Gen continued to struggle and fight his way past Ronon. Sheppard grabbed the distraught man's arm with his own good one. He pulled him around, taking Marie out of his line of vision so that he had no choice but to focus on John.

"You are only getting in the way," He said firmly, "The healers are the best chance Marie has, you need to let them do what they can."

The fight fell out of Gen's eyes and now the anger had fizzled out all that was left was fear. His eyes were filled with tears, electrically white and wide. Teyla could tell that Sheppard was trying to emphasize with the man but he couldn't comprehend what this man was going through. Sheppard may have lost people he loved and cared for, but to see your own child dying in front of you, that was something else, something she would give anything not to be witness to.

…………….

Gen's eyes flew wide and nearly rolled into the back of his head. The room was silent. Marie's whimpers were gone.

The female healer lowered her head, her shoulders heaped in sorrow.

Gen fell to his knees and grabbed his daughter's small face in his palms, tears streaming down his face as he cried out in despair.

Sheppard focused on Teyla as Gen scooped his daughter to his chest and sobbed as he rocked her. Teyla hadn't moved or said a word since they had pulled her out.

"Teyla?" He tried to get her attention. He wasn't sure she'd even heard him, she didn't flinch, frozen staring at the scene before her.

Gen looked up at Teyla, something had changed, the fire was back in his eyes. "You! You did this. This is your fault." He spat out.

Now Teyla flinched, "I…" Her mouth hung open, struggling to find any words.

Gen unceremoniously dropped his daughter's body to the floor and lunged at Teyla's throat. Ronon caught him before he made contact, holding firm as Gen tried to fight passed him. Gen threw his arms high and wide, catching Ronon in his already dazed head. More men joined to restrain him.

"Get him out of here!" John ordered.

The men forcibly removed Gen from the remains of the building.

"Could you?" Sheppard's breath caught on his throat as he gestured to the male healer.

"Of course" The healer knelt down and lifted the small girl into his arms, carry her dead weight away.

Teyla sniffed a whimper and John rushed to her side. He reached out for her face with his good hand, gently taking her cheek in his palm and guiding her eyes to his. He could see the pain behind them, the sorrow and regret radiating off of her.

"This was not your fault." He said. Teyla's eyes dropped to the floor, he knew she wasn't accepting what he was saying.

"Teyla, look at me." Her eyes raised but were heavy and unfocused. "I said look at me Teyla." He smiled as her eyes connected with his.

"You are not responsible for this. We had no other options. She would have died no matter what we'd done."

"I know." Teyla said in a small voice. John's heart leapt at hearing her voice again, it may only be a small step but it gave him hope he could pull her through this.

"My head knows…" She faltered, looking down, bringing a fisted hand to her chest, "but my heart… it feels… responsible… to blame…"

John wrapped his good arm around her and brought her head to his shoulder.

"Sheppard." Ronon called from behind. John realised the male healer was standing before them. "We need to get out of here."

"Yeah." Sheppard said, slowly letting go of Teyla.

"Um," The healer started, "She has a fractured rib and her ankle is broken." John nodded. "I need to wrap them before you move her."

Sheppard stepped away to give the healer room.

He looked at Teyla propped up on her elbows. "I'll just be outside." He said, needing the open space.

He took one step and nearly stepped back, reconsidering whether he should leave Teyla.

"I'm here." Ronon said, giving Sheppard the reassurance he needed for permission to leave.

Once in the open air he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

"Sheppard!" Rodney's shrill voice, with an unusually soft edge, interrupted his peace. "The doctor told me of Teyla's injuries, so I got this from one of the neighbours." He said, holding out a long stick with a handle part way down, looking remarkably like a crutch. John smiled at Rodney's thoughtfulness, only Teyla seemed to entice out Rodney's considerate side.

"Thanks Rodney, that'll come in handy."

………………

Parker leafed through a file in front of her until she found the page she was looking for. "Here it is." She said to herself.

"_Dr. Keller is an excellent Doctor. Very caring and calm, and she always manages to calm me down!" McKay laughed nervously._

"_Does that include off the job?" Parker asked._

"_Well, um, yes, I guess. She just has a very calming affect on people generally, I suppose." _

"_Do you spend a lot of time together?"_

"_I wouldn't say a lot, no more than my team." Rodney avoided her eye contact._

"_More time off duty or on?"_

"_A mixture." Rodney really had no clue what to say for the best._

"_She is excellent at her job you say?"_

"_Oh yes." Rodney breathed out deeply, relaxing that he stuck to Keller's professional abilities. "She always puts me first." He smiled. "The patient, I mean." His smile faltered. _Crap.

"It states here that a short way into Dr McKay's illness he declared his love for you in a video." She looked up at Keller questioningly but continued on before Keller could respond. "It also records that you personally viewed the recording on several occasions. On learning of Dr. McKay's feelings for you, why did you not assign him to a different doctor on Atlantis?"

Keller squirmed in her seat. "At the time I believed his feelings were influenced by his illness." Jennifer knew what was coming but hoped beyond hope it wouldn't.

"But since then you have ventured into a romantic relationship with Dr. McKay." Parker's tone took a sterner turn, "Why did you not transfer his care once you realised his feelings were real, or, more significantly, once you developed feelings for him yourself?"

Keller gulped down a lump in her throat. "Working on Atlantis is a very unique situation. Dr. McKay is one of the most integral members of the expedition and he must receive the highest medical care available. Emergency situations occur all the time on Atlantis that requires me to take responsibility for any patient."

"Do you not consider your staff capable of treating Dr. McKay? You have spoken very highly of them, even acknowledging their higher level of experience. Some of your medical staff were in fact hired by yourself, why did you hire them for an expedition requiring the best of the best?"

"Oh no! I didn't mean that at all. My staff are very capable. But I am the Chief, it is my responsibility to take the lead in any emergency situation that arises."

"And nobody would judge you for treating Dr. McKay in an emergency, you would not be expected to let him die while you stand back and do nothing. However, it goes against all medical ethics for you to be in charge of the general medical care of a patient you are romantically involved with. There are other doctors capable and experienced enough on this base that his general care should, undoubtedly, have been assigned to."

Keller didn't know what to say, she had no answer to that.

…………….

Ronon helped Teyla to her feet, his arm around her waist and her shoulder leaning heavily against his. He could feel her faltering and hear her breath catching on the pain. But not once did she utter a word of her suffering. If Ronon knew the words to take away her pain he'd say them, but words were never his strong point.

He gently guided her outside.

"There you are." Rodney said, holding out a stick. He guided it into her hand and Ronon felt her dependence on him lesson.

"Lets get out of here shall we?" John appeared by his side.

"I will guide you." The male healer said. "My name is Maiko. You won't get through the guards at the gate without an escort."

Sheppard nodded his thanks as the team set off to follow their guide.

………………

"So, do you know the guards well?" Rodney tried to strike up conversation with Maiko.

"Not really, my sister's husband works in the signing in office, so I know how the system works. Hopefully he will be there and be able to get you through swiftly. Although, knowing Joviah he'll probably be looking for some conspiracy theory and end up calling the Senators. On second thoughts, maybe it's better he's not there." Maiko said with an uncomfortable chuckle.

Rodney had only half been paying attention, he wasn't really interested but the silence had been frustrating, and he'd been missing the sound of his own voice. The mention of Joviah had piqued his interest, reminding him of why they were actually there.

"Conspiracy theories?"

"The Senators aren't as open as they like to say they are. There have been some differences of opinion on how we should manage our technological advancement. For many years we believed advancement would bring the Wraith, but since your arrival to our galaxy our committees have changed their views. It is very difficult to change the mindset of the general population who believed something for many generations though.

Being part of the committee infrastructure Joviah hears mumblings of things and his mind runs with it, what is true or not I have no idea but he's always suspicious of something or other."

"What the…?" Sheppard called from his position at their six. Rodney's eye was drawn to the gate not too far away in the distance and a flutter of elation crept through his chest. But there was something else. It looked like a crack in the ground, too far away for him to judge how wide it was.

The group quickened their pace as much as their injuries would allow.

"What is it?" Ronon asked as they approached the gap.

"Must be a crack from when the quake hit, the plates move and sometimes the friction leads to plates… snapping." Sheppard gestured with his hands as he explained.

"No…" Rodney said slowly, still thinking over the sight before him, "… it doesn't have the crevasses you would usually see in a crack and the magma is unusually high, very high, this planet must have a thin crust."

"Huh?" Ronon grunted, but Rodney ignored him.

"This is a plate margin, the one that caused the quake, it's divergent so the plates move away from each other, but this kind of gap in such a short space of time is impossible."

"Obviously not." John pointed out.

Rodney rolled his eyes at him. "The crust is thinner here so it's more possible than it would be on Earth. But this couldn't happen without some man made intervention."

"Joviah was right!" Maiko said.

"What do you mean?" John asked.

"Joviah told me that Government officials were investigating the foundations of his house, he was adamant that they were going to tear down his house and build some defence against the Wraith. I'd heard rumours of plans to create a tunnel where we could plant explosives, that we'd negotiate from you," Maiko dipped his head bashfully, "and set them off if the Wraith came through, a first line of defence if you would." He paused, trying to put the dots together, "Joviah said they wanted his house because it was on the fault line, they must have chosen it because there'd be less resistance there."

"That little…" Rodney said through clenched teeth.

"This was all about a house?" John said in disbelief.

"He's a dead man." Ronon seethed, pulling his arm tighter around Teyla's waist.

"Am I… missing something?" Maiko asked, confused by the teams reactions.

"Joviah," John said with disdain, "is currently on Atlantis. He told us your government were trying to kill him, we came here to investigate on behalf of the coalition."

"Oh." Maiko said, "I'm sorry for what he has caused you to go through." He glanced ashamedly at Teyla, but she didn't react at all.

John almost wanted to unburden the guy by stating the obvious that Joviah didn't cause the earthquake, but right now he was too angry to concede that.

He sighed. "We just need to get home. Is there anything we can use to bridge the gap?"

"There is plenty of wood in the village going spare from all the damage, I am sure we could find something long and sturdy enough to hold our weight."

"Ok, we'll head back to the village." John stepped in that direction.

"Not we." Ronon said, he let go of Teyla and guided her to sit on the floor, "You're staying here with Teyla."

John opened his mouth to guffaw at taking an order from Ronon, but the ache in his arm told him to shut up.

He sat down next to his teammate. "See you in a bit."

The three men set off in the direction they just come from.

………………

Dr Parker looked up as Mr. Woolsey entered the room.

"Mr. Woolsey, thank you for joining us." Parker said, pulling her files together and standing.

Keller stuttered at what she should do, deciding on standing beside Woolsey.

"Dr. Keller," Parker addressed her, "You were put in charge of the medical department at a time of transition for Atlantis. At the time it was felt that with the loss of Dr's Weir and Beckett further change would be detrimental to the community. After displaying your unquestionable ability as a doctor, and ingenuity in the care of Dr Weir, the IOA felt you were the right person for the job.

You were put in charge of this department with good reason Doctor, and that will be taken into account when I present my findings back to the Medical Board, I assure you."

Keller nodded slowly, she'd been listening carefully but wasn't sure she had taken it all in.

"The Board will discuss my findings and I will be in touch once a decision has been reached. Dr. Weiss will continue in charge of the medical department in the meantime.

Thank you for your co-operation and hospitality." She moved her line of sight to Woolsey and held out a hand to him. "Goodbye."

………………

Teyla didn't feel uncomfortable in the silence, she feared when the silence stopped. At the moment she could hide from herself, pull the silence around her like a protective blanket. She dreaded the moment that John would break it, the moment he would force her to open up and face what had happened.

She sensed the shift of John's body and the warmth drained from her.

"We'll be home soon." He told her.

"I… I can't." She winced at the weakness of her own voice.

"What do you mean you can't?"

She didn't know what to say, how to explain. She wasn't even sure she understood herself.

"Teyla?" Sheppard gently demanded.

"I feel... Gen now has nothing – no one. Logically... I know. But I can't help but feel... that I am responsible. If I had not…" Her eyes pleaded with John to give her the answers.

"Teyla," John said calmly, "The pain of Marie's death... Things like that never leave you... and they shouldn't..." He thought of all the people – all of the ones who'd died back on Earth and on Atlantis – and shook his head, looking down to his lap. He took a breath, wincing when it shuddered slightly in his chest. "It will always have a place in your heart whether you are here or not." He tilted his head to stare at her, smiling sadly when he met her eyes. " But you learn to live with it."

Teyla looked down. "I know." It was the answer she'd known but not the one she had foolishly hoped for.

"Before we leave this planet, I need you to accept that her death was not your fault." He paused as the tears brimmed on Teyla's already red and puffy eyes. "She died because of an earthquake, as soon as that quake hit, her fate was settled. It was the Goddamn government that caused it, not you. She would have died whether we'd moved her or not, there was nothing we could do for her beside what we did. Nothing."

The tears gently fell from her eyes and she nodded slowly.

"Tell me it was not your fault Teyla."

Her mouth opened but no sound came out. She swallowed, "It… was…" Her voice choked on a sob.

John's lips thinned as he worked up the courage to say what had been trying to burst free since he'd been in that pod thing.

"You are the reason I'm here, you saved me when I thought there was nothing left. I'd lost you; I'd lost you all but you didn't give up on me. You did everything you could to get me home safe and I don't know if I can ever repay you for that. As much as it hurt to think I'd lost you, seeing you alive banished it all, I couldn't have gotten through and recovered if I'd let that hallucination rule me. You saved me Teyla and I can't let you go home broken, I won't let that happen." It was rushed and half of it was mumbled into his lap; it wasn't eloquent or well thought out but he'd said it and as she turned to him with her wide eyes filled with an unusual glimmer, he wouldn't dare take it back. "Do not beat yourself up over something you could not control. Don't taint the memory of that little girl with your guilt, she deserves better than that."

It felt like a dam had broken in her heart, a wave of relief flowed through her. It really wasn't her fault. Her mind was clear for the first time in what felt like days. "It was not my fault." She said firmly. As quickly as her mind had cleared it became overwhelmed with emotion. Tears streamed from her eyes.

"It was not my fault." She wept, "It was not my fault." She whispered as she leant forward into John's chest, her forehead leaning against his breast.

John's arm tentatively reached around her, suddenly unsure of what he should do.

……………

"They're back." Sheppard said, noticing his teammates in the distance.

Teyla lifted her head from his shoulder. John got up, using his good arm as leverage, suddenly more aware of the pain in his left. Focusing on Teyla had distracted him from his own injury, so the pain came as a relief, he'd take his own pain over Teyla's any day.

Maiko and Rodney were carrying a long, thick piece of wood between them. Ronon had one to himself.

Sheppard nodded in greeting, "Good to go."

The men placed the wood across the crevasse, carefully balancing it on either side.

"Rodney, are you alright to go first? We need someone able bodied on either side while Teyla crosses."

Sheppard could tell that Rodney really wanted to object, but he kept his mouth tight and lips locked together. His head nodded what his mouth couldn't say.

Rodney walked up to the edge of the crevasse. John let him take a moment or two to compose himself before considering urging him on.

"Are you going across with Teyla?" Ronon asked Sheppard from behind.

"Yeah, it's the least weight that way." John's heart pounded in his chest, he'd done things far more dangerous than this so he didn't know why it was making him so nervous.

"I'm going." Rodney shouted, as though shouting it would give him the determination and confidence he needed.

John and Ronon watched closely as Rodney put a foot on the part of the wood resting on the ground. He took another tentative step. John could hear him mumbling to himself but couldn't work out what he was saying.

Rodney quickly dashed the rest of the way across; possibly the fastest John had ever seen him run.

"Oh God." Rodney breathed out and rested his arms on his knees.

"Our turn." Sheppard said to himself. Ronon had helped Teyla up and led her to the edge of the crossing. He let go and she leant all her weight on her crutch, momentarily keeping upright. John leapt forward as she began to topple over, wrapping his good arm around her waist from behind and pulling her back to rest on his chest. He was certain she'd be able to feel his heart beating.

"You ready?"

"I am John." She said with conviction.

She never know how good it felt for him to hear that.

They stepped together onto the board and took each step at a time in sink with each other.

They took a step onto solid ground at the other end and relaxed in relief.

"Ok." Sheppard said quietly. He separated from Teyla and moved to her side to help her down to the floor.

She put her hand on his arm to stop him. "Let's get home John."

He saw Ronon stood behind her, already crossed, and let him take Teyla's weight.

John nodded, and smiled at the warmth that had returned to Teyla's eyes.

He followed his team the final distance to the gate.

………………

Rodney walked through the event horizon into Atlantis' gate room. Ronon was already guiding Teyla to the Infirmary and Sheppard was shouting for medics.

He followed the to the infirmary where Dr. Weiss was waiting for them. She was a nice enough woman, if a bit stiff upper lipped, but he couldn't help disliking her. There was nothing wrong with resenting her just because she wasn't Jennifer, was there?

Ronon had lifted Teyla onto a bed where Dr. Weiss examined her. The fact that she managed glare down Ronon, so that he stepped away, did earn her some points in McKay's eyes.

She ordered Ronon to sit on the next bed so that Marie could look over him once she'd finished examining Sheppard. Sheppard was wincing in pain from the exam but his eye remained firmly watching Teyla and Dr. Weiss.

He surprised himself that he was just standing back and watching, not demanding to be seen to by the medical staff, he was too emotionally exhausted for his brain to function normally.

Some tension escaped his shoulders when Jennifer walked in. She looked drained and that immediately brought his tension back. He resisted from asking how the interview had gone, the words were almost forming on his lips, but for once his brain-to-mouth filter worked without Sheppard's input, this wasn't the time or place to talk about it.

She stood next to him and the remained watching in silence while their friends were treated. Her presence comforted him, but it also reminded him that things had changed, she taking care of him anymore, medically.

Mr. Woolsey walked in.

"Jennifer, how are they…?" His cheeks flushed red as he realised his mistake. "Sorry," he said quietly.

"Colonel, it's good to have you and your team back."

"Sure is." Sheppard said firmly. He was still looking at Teyla, and it took a smile from her before Sheppard let himself smile.

They'd grown closer recently, even Rodney had noticed that. But he was only now realising how much their happiness depended on each other's.

"Dr. Weiss, how are they doing?" Woolsey asked.

"Colonel Sheppard has a hair-line fracture to the…"

Rodney listened closely, but his eyes followed Jennifer as she left the infirmary, her shoulders hanging low.


End file.
